One dead in Lehman house fire

One man is dead and two are injured after a fire Wednesday afternoon at Keystone Residential Services off Bushkill Falls Road in Lehman Township. The fire broke out at about 12:15 p.m. in a multi-story house on the property, which provides housing for low-income residents and people with special needs, according to state police.

One man is dead and two are injured after a fire Wednesday afternoon at Keystone Residential Services off Bushkill Falls Road in Lehman Township.

The fire broke out at about 12:15 p.m. in a multi-story house on the property, which provides housing for low-income residents and people with special needs, according to state police.

The name of the victim was not immediately available Wednesday.

Two people — a resident of the house and a volunteer firefighter — were taken to Pocono Medical Center with injuries, said state police Cpl. Warren Grabher of the Blooming Grove barracks.

Several residents and their pets were displaced by the blaze. As firefighters fought the fire, stunned residents watched from a safe distance. EMS workers gave them sheets to wrap around themselves to help fight off the cold air. Officials were arranging for the residents and their pets to be sheltered.

The fire is believed to be accidental, Grabher said. A state fire marshal and Blooming Grove investigative unit is searching for its cause.

Keystone Residential Services is located across from the entrance to Bushkill Falls on Keystone Court, a small looping road servicing a small row of apartments and a larger house shared by multiple residents. It is the house that burned.

Firefighters filled tankers from the pond at the entrance to Bushkill Falls. The tankers were then backed up the driveway leading to the house. Bushkill Falls Road was reduced to one lane as fire trucks and ambulances lined the road.

Keystone Residential Services is not an officially sanctioned or licensed facility, according to Carbon-Monroe-Pike Mental Health and Developmental Services.

The buildings and surrounding land are owned by Joan and Louis Bruno. Keystone Residential Services Inc. was incorporated on Nov. 22, 1993, according to Department of State records.